It was quite a shock to Michael Caporali when he realized that barbering — like so many other trades — was quietly disappearing. So he decided to do something about it.
He came out of retirement to create the Carbondale Barber School and opened it recently at 53 Salem Avenue. Since then, he has been in the process of registering students who hope to become the region’s future barbers.
“There isn’t a barber school within 100 miles, so to be able to open one in my hometown is really exciting,” he offered.
Mike comes from a family of barbers going back to when his grandfather, Tony Bruno, lived in Italy.
“They were all barbers and tailors,” he said of his ancestors in Italy, “but then my grandfather moved to America and settled for a short time in Archbald before relocating to Carbondale.”
Tony Bruno opened his barber shop on the West Side, and the business became an institution that lasted for decades.
“My father worked in the mines, but he also cut hair for my grandfather in his spare time,” Mike recalled, “so it was something that stayed in the family.”
For a while, though, it appeared as if the tradition might not continue. None of Mike’s three brothers went into barbering and Mike wasn’t planning to, either.
“I was going to join the Navy and see the world,” he related.
That all changed when his grandfather encouraged Mike to cut his brother’s hair one day back in 1966. Mike did, and he was hooked. He enrolled in the City Barber Institute in Wilkes-Barre and became a barber, carrying on the family tradition. He charged $1 for a hair cut back then, 50 cents for kids.
“My grandfather was smart, he never pushed it on me, but he was thrilled when I went to barber school,” he recounted. “He lived long enough to see me get my license, and he passed away just three months later.”
Like his grandfather before him, Mike owned a barbershop that became a West Side institution — first on Fallbrook St., then later on Hospital St. — before he began teaching barbering to inmates at SCI Waymart. He taught his first class there in 1990.
“People stop me on the street and ask me if I’m still cutting hair, or if I’m going to open the old shop again,” he related, “but I felt a higher calling to help teach and train the next generation of barbers, to keep the trade going.”
“Trades are what our country was built on, and they seem to be disappearing,” he explained. “Especially barbering. Don’t get me wrong, the beauticians and stylists do a great job for the kind of work they do, but they’re not barbers.”
Mike said he was inspired by seeing how the lives of the men he taught at SCI Waymart have changed since they were released from prison and became barbers thanks to the training he provided them.
“I used to tell them that, with a trade like this, they would be able to make a living wherever they go,” he stated, “and that’s exactly what happened. I talk to them now and they either own or they’re working in barber shops, raising families and leading good, productive lives.”
“People need barbers, and young people can make a good living in the business,” Mike noted.
At the Carbondale Barber School, he said his students receive the mandatory nine months, or 1,250 hours, of training, then they have three opportunities to pass their state exams in Harrisburg to be licensed. He is also providing an additional service to the community, offering haircuts to low-income residents for a minimal fee.
“This is something I wanted to do not only for myself and the future barbers who will be trained here, but for my hometown of Carbondale as well,” he explained. “We need something like this here.”
Mike is currently accepting students for the school and offers flexible teaching hours. The starting date for the next class is Sept. 13. Anyone who is interested in taking part, or would like more information, can call 282-1003.
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It was quite a shock to Michael Caporali when he realized that barbering — like so many other trades — was quietly disappearing. So he decided to do something about it.
He came out of retirement to create the Carbondale Barber School and opened it recently at 53 Salem Avenue. Since then, he has been in the process of registering students who hope to become the region’s future barbers.
“There isn’t a barber school within 100 miles, so to be able to open one in my hometown is really exciting,” he offered.
Mike comes from a family of barbers going back to when his grandfather, Tony Bruno, lived in Italy.
“They were all barbers and tailors,” he said of his ancestors in Italy, “but then my grandfather moved to America and settled for a short time in Archbald before relocating to Carbondale.”
Tony Bruno opened his barber shop on the West Side, and the business became an institution that lasted for decades.
“My father worked in the mines, but he also cut hair for my grandfather in his spare time,” Mike recalled, “so it was something that stayed in the family.”
For a while, though, it appeared as if the tradition might not continue. None of Mike’s three brothers went into barbering and Mike wasn’t planning to, either.
“I was going to join the Navy and see the world,” he related.
That all changed when his grandfather encouraged Mike to cut his brother’s hair one day back in 1966. Mike did, and he was hooked. He enrolled in the City Barber Institute in Wilkes-Barre and became a barber, carrying on the family tradition. He charged $1 for a hair cut back then, 50 cents for kids.
“My grandfather was smart, he never pushed it on me, but he was thrilled when I went to barber school,” he recounted. “He lived long enough to see me get my license, and he passed away just three months later.”
Like his grandfather before him, Mike owned a barbershop that became a West Side institution — first on Fallbrook St., then later on Hospital St. — before he began teaching barbering to inmates at SCI Waymart. He taught his first class there in 1990.
“People stop me on the street and ask me if I’m still cutting hair, or if I’m going to open the old shop again,” he related, “but I felt a higher calling to help teach and train the next generation of barbers, to keep the trade going.”
“Trades are what our country was built on, and they seem to be disappearing,” he explained. “Especially barbering. Don’t get me wrong, the beauticians and stylists do a great job for the kind of work they do, but they’re not barbers.”
Mike said he was inspired by seeing how the lives of the men he taught at SCI Waymart have changed since they were released from prison and became barbers thanks to the training he provided them.
“I used to tell them that, with a trade like this, they would be able to make a living wherever they go,” he stated, “and that’s exactly what happened. I talk to them now and they either own or they’re working in barber shops, raising families and leading good, productive lives.”
“People need barbers, and young people can make a good living in the business,” Mike noted.
At the Carbondale Barber School, he said his students receive the mandatory nine months, or 1,250 hours, of training, then they have three opportunities to pass their state exams in Harrisburg to be licensed. He is also providing an additional service to the community, offering haircuts to low-income residents for a minimal fee.
“This is something I wanted to do not only for myself and the future barbers who will be trained here, but for my hometown of Carbondale as well,” he explained. “We need something like this here.”
Mike is currently accepting students for the school and offers flexible teaching hours. The starting date for the next class is Sept. 13. Anyone who is interested in taking part, or would like more information, can call 282-1003.
